Shania Twain on Breaking Down in Front of Son

A fiercely private Shania Twain has offered up a rare glimpse of her anguish in the wake of her separation from husband Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, and how the demise of their marriage has impacted their son. In an open letter to her fans posted Friday on her official website, the 43-year-old songstress reveals that 7 ½-year-old Eja D’Angelo has only seen his mom cry once, as Shania was listening to “some sad music” at her computer. “Eja walked up behind me and asked me why I was crying,” Shania recalled. “He wasn’t sad at first — just totally surprised to see his mom crying … and didn’t know what to make of it.” Shania had previously gone to great lengths to cry only when she was alone, but writes that “this one time was just too hard for me to control and I broke down.”

Shania goes on to apologize to her fans for taking such an extended hiatus from music, noting that regardless of her marital state, she still has Eja to tend to. “As you know, I am a mom and all my energy goes to making sure my little man is healthy and happy in every way,” she writes. “This is a full time job, as any parent understands, but especially difficult when you are battling your own personal crisis at the same time while trying to spare your child of being affected by your own suffering.”

At the same time — from the sound of things — the day-to-day routine Eja offers has been cathartic. “Each morning I put my son on the school bus, feed our two dogs Sony and Dolly, drink my orange juice and sit down at the computer to write,” she writes. There have been a few adventures squeezed in here and there, however, as Shania tries to embrace a “different and more optimistic attitude” toward life. She adds,

Shania and Mutt announced their separation in May 2008, after 14 years of marriage.

Source: ShaniaTwain.com

— Missy